


Fire and Forget Me Not

by gomushroom



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-10-12 00:24:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10477899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gomushroom/pseuds/gomushroom
Summary: Aiba, a magical fire prevention officer, is assigned to a new wizard partner





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 2015 aibaexchange. 
> 
> My beta-ed fic for aibaexchange is available at the comm, [ here](http://aibaexchange.livejournal.com/6866.html), as it was originally posted. Written for thoroughlynerdy's great prompts, this is an office slash low-key magic firefighter AU fic, with some stolen terms from HP universe. I also include extra bits near the ending—featuring Sho returning from his trip—and some other scenes partially because, well, today is Sho day. Yay!
> 
> I have had this firefighter AU ideas for the longest time—for a different Aiba pairing actually but I’ve no regret whatsoever now because Junba <3!—and it was fun to finally work on them and I want to keep the fun memories. SO. This is a silly indulgence, one I find difficult to apologize for. I truly love this universe and deleting my favorite scenes, as vague and stupid as they might be, has pained me greatly. At the end, I just desperately need to post this fic in its raw, flat, and messy state so I can move on. Even if these words are only passable for a certain standard, they are my own after all.

The morning starts quietly, albeit a bit late for Aiba. He arrives at his division office to find his colleagues already starting their morning routines; Nino’s sipping coffee as he scrolls his computer screen, or what seems to be the day’s brief and Kanjiya-chan already furiously typing what probably replies to last night emails. Aiba goes straight to his desk, acknowledging the routine, setting his large black coffee tumbler in the corner of his desk, before a voice greets him.

“You’re a few minutes late actually,” Ohno whispers in low tone as he appears next to Aiba. 

Aiba chuckles at sudden greeting. He turns to see Ohno with heavy lidded eyes, crinkled dress shirt, his wand still puffing with white smoke hanging on his hand, and a small pout. He must have finished his night shift, Aiba smiles at the man, and of course that gives him the free pass for being grumpy. “I know I am. Just please don’t tell the Captain.”

Ohno frowns. “But I am the Captain.”

“I know.” Aiba smiles as sweet as he could possibly can and bows his apology. “And I apologize.”

Ohno considers it for a minute before pointing out at Aiba’s tumbler with his wand, sending the remaining of the white smoke to Aiba’s desk. “I’ll take a bit of that and I won’t say another word.”

“You could’ve said that earlier,” Aiba says, still a smile, “You don’t need to pull off the pout on me.”

“But I am the Captain.”

“You sure are,” Aiba says. He would have made a short salute if he knows Ohno could handle the joke. But perhaps not right now when his Captain is sleep deprived and cranky. “Let me settle for a while, and then I’ll bring it to your desk in a decent cup.”

“Make it a large cup.”

“I will.”

Ohno seems satisfied with the promise and turns to return to his corner office. Few steps from Aiba’s desk, he stops and turns to find Aiba is still standing beside his chair. “Oh, and Kanjiya-chan has a new assignment for you. That was why I was waiting for you.”

“New assignment?”

“And a new partner.”

A hint of worry comes to Aiba. “Is everything okay with Sho-kun?”

Ohno blinks before he answers. “I hope it is.”

“You hope?”

Ohno shrugs petulantly before turning away again and waving at Aiba. “Kanjiya-chan has all the details. I’m having your coffee and then I’m going home.”

Aiba frowns at Ohno’s pithy information. He turns to see the large clock on the right side of the office; 8.05 AM. He sees Kanjiya-chan is now on a phone with someone as she speedily makes notes on her thick folder. Well, he better gives Ohno his caffeine dose first before asking her for a full brief of the assignment. There’s still plenty of time before he has to go to the field and for the day to begin after all. 

*

He stands for a full ten minutes beside Kanjiya-chan’s desk before she finally finishes her phone calls to someone who seems to have requested a lengthy explanation of their current prevention program. She is sighing tiredly when she finally sets the receiver on its place and turns to Aiba with a weak smile.

“I seriously don’t envy you right now, Aiba-kun.”

“What?” 

She stares at Aiba in silence and lets the question unanswered. “Well, anyway now that you’re here, I do have your new assignment details right here.”

Aiba lets his question go and fire another one, a completely different one at her. “So, is there something wrong with Sho-kun?”

“Something is?”

Aiba wants to roll his eyes but he holds the urge back. “That’s my question. Aren’t you supposed to know if there’s something wrong with him?”

“Why?”

“Because you have the details of the assignment,” Aiba says, holding his impatience to himself. “Kanjiya-chan, you’re keeping me on here.”

“I don’t think I am,” she replies confusedly. She then snaps herself back to the previous topic. “You’re making forgetting about the annoying conversation I just had with your new partner. Which is sweet in a weird way, but I also need to get this out of my hand as soon as possible, so here you go.” She takes a dramatic pause, standing from her seat, holding a hand out for a handshake, and making the announcement formally. “Aiba-kun, congratulations on having a new, I might add also, annoying, partner for your prevention field work job. Effective immediately, you will be assigned with him until Sho-kun returns from his training convention in London. That means, your next week round will be conducted with him.”

There are too many information coming out of Kanjiya-chan mouth all at once and Aiba’s first reflex is to take her hand, complete the handshake, and say, “Okay.”

“Now, here’s a new brief from the head office. Beside your assignment, they’ve also included a very thorough article about some new trend of arson violations. You should get on with it and write down a report,” she says, pulling out a folder out of her tall stacks and handing it to Aiba. “Also, weekly meeting at 4. Ohno-san will be back then so don’t you forget and, most importantly, don’t let Nino forget.”

Aiba turns to look at Nino who seems to busy himself with a new unit of toolbox—yet it doesn’t fool him at all. Nino is definitely listening, amusedly, to all the conversation he had with Kanjiya-chan. There goes their lunch topics, he guesses. “I won’t. I’ll get into this now. Thank you, Kanjiya-chan.”

“I doubt you’ll thank me when you meet your new partner. And by the way, it’s Captain Kanjiya, Aiba-kun,” she says with a straight face. “Since Ohno-san is not here, I’m definitely the one in charge now.”

Aiba could hear a muffled snort from Nino’s direction but he ignores it. Kanjiya-chan could be all-serious and everything, but she has a point right there. He then replies with a small smile. “Sure. Thanks, Captain.”

She beams at him sweetly before turning to send a knowing glare to Nino who still appears to not looking at them.

Aiba walks back to his desk and sets to work.

 

His notification tone pings when lunchtime comes. Of course it is Nino who sends him few cute stickers. Checking the time and deciding that it’s time for a break, Aiba slowly sets aside his work folder, saves his files and sets his computer to sleep.

“We’re off for lunch,” he says from across the hall even if Kanjiya-chan is nowhere to be seen at the moment. “Be back in around 45. Curry rice okay?”

“Okay!” Her voice comes from somewhere under her table, but Aiba still doesn’t see her figure and just heads out without worry. She’ll be fine.

He finds Nino already standing in front of their office busy flicking his phone for something. “Shall we?”

“Sure,” Nino says, his eyes still on his phone. “After you.”

Aiba walks ahead and heads straight, pacing his walk slower to make sure Nino is following him, to the corner. At the intersection, as they wait for the red to turn green, he finally turns to find Nino is no longer fixated on his phone. He turns to Nino and asks, “Curry rice?”

Nino gives it a thought for a while before he speaks, “But I want ramen.”

“Kanjiya-chan said okay to curry.”

Nino rolls his eyes this time. “Fine.”

Aiba chuckles at the quick agreement. Nino will do almost anything to score a free lunch, and passing the bill on Kanjiya-chan, especially when she’s regularly having Aiba buying her takeaway for lunch, is his favorite strategy. Kanjiya-chan never complains and after this strategy worked the first time, Nino soon constantly justifies this act by calling that Kanjiya-chan actually putting the lunch bill for a reimbursement. She never does actually; Nino knows that, Aiba knows that, even she knows that Nino and Aiba know about that. Yet she’s letting Nino off with the excuse, Aiba doesn’t say anything, and Nino gets to eat free lunch every time. 

When their orders are all set, Nino finally asks the question. “So, what actually happened to Sho-kun?”

“He is sent to London for a training convention.”

“How long will he be gone?”

“Around 3 months, I think. At least that’s what the files said about my new partner. That he will be around for at least 3 months.”

Nino sighs into his seat. “Well, Wednesday will not be the same again, not without Sho-kun around.”

“You just miss the Wednesday free dinner.”

“Of course,” Nino says with another roll of his eyes. “I already have a fixed schedule on Wednesday and now he’s ruining it for me.”

Aiba laughs. “I spoke to him earlier. He’d be heading to the airport tonight. He asked me to extend the apology to all of us since he didn’t have the chance for a farewell party. The assignment was quite sudden. He said he wasn’t the one who’re supposed to go. ”

“How about your new partner?”

“Same with Sho-kun, he’s a Fire Lieutenant from Central. We never met him though, his name is Matsumoto.”

“Never heard of him,” Nino says. Their orders are arriving and the waiter is setting them on their table. “But I can always dig some info for you. I don’t have my wand to do a thorough search but I have this phone and muggle Internet to get some basic pictures.”

Aiba’s focus is already on the heavenly scent of the curry so he waves Nino’s offer easily. “No need. We’ll be meeting him next week after all. Let’s see how it goes first.”

Nino takes one look at Aiba who’s already grabbing for his spoon. “If you say so.”

Aiba hums his absent agreement and digs in his curry rice.

 

His work is actually not complicated but Aiba likes the requirement to be thorough in his work. He has learned that working fast, especially in this field, is not something that would result in quality. It is his duty to be meticulous and careful; and if it takes longer than the usual office-work, then be it. Safety comes first and is their ultimate concern as one of the best Fire Prevention division in Tokyo Metropolitan Magical District. No rushing when it comes to safety therefore he needs to take the time to be thorough and detailed.

It is also the reason why Captain Ohno and Kanjiya-chan are leading their team, being two of the best the detailed oriented people Aiba has ever known. Captain Ohno could be so focused on his work, preparing details of steps and plans for their next programs, drawing complicated diagram of the necessary fire threat prevention. Meanwhile Kanjiya-san practically breathes details and crunches information like a fast-processor muggle computer, which is even better than some magical e-book available.

He sets on sorting the new schedule and his work plan for next week all afternoon. Few school visitations that have been penciled in are confirmed—he made the calls to the related schools and put them in the office schedule. Then there are new requisition forms needs to be filled—uniforms and presenter materials. 

Aiba finally looks up from his papers when he catches whooshes of waving wands at the end of his vision. Kanjiya-chan, finished with her work for today, is shelving the docs in alphabetical order. Nino is nowhere to be seen—which means it’s already past work times, and Captain, looking fresh in his uniform, is sitting by the desk observing the afternoon ritual with a relaxed smile. 

A glance to the clock tells Aiba that it’s already a bit after 6PM, and he still has few more other to file to be dealt with.

“Just leave it and go back at it tomorrow, Aiba-chan,” Ohno says, answering his unformed question. “It’s getting late.”

Aiba turns to Kanjiya-chan who’s now done with shelving, received a nod, and then decides maybe he’s already done enough for the day. “Let me finish this one and then I’ll be out of here.”

 

On Wednesday, Aiba enters the division office just in time to here a low and sharp “What?” aimed at Kanjiya-chan. She’s standing over her desk, undeterred by the imposing posture in front of her. Aiba quietly goes to his desk, setting his bag and jacket away and silently observing what happens next.

The man, Aiba has a good guess on who he is, turns to his left and eyes his desk with disdain. “I was under the impression that I’m going to work _in_ the field. Not on some desks.”

Now, Aiba can see the outline of the man’s face, sharp and strong. His cheek is flushed with what probably is annoyance and cold. The ruffled hair swings as the man turns back to Kanjiya-chan for clarification.

Kanjiya-chan merely blinks at the glare. “Your impression is correct. But your day is not finished until you submit your report for the day. You can use this computer and desk for your stay here.” She makes a significant pause. “Now say: thank you Kanjiya-chan.”

The man glares silently at her, hunched forward a little bit for intimidation, but she’s not wavered, not one bit. After another long silence, of what Aiba sees as internal fuming, the man breathes out a low, “Thank you." He pauses a while and lets out a resigned sigh when she is still waiting. “Kanjiya-chan.”

“Good,” she beams at him and finds Aiba’s standing on the corner of the room. “Now, here comes your new partner, he will show you the rest of the rope and you’re all set.”

The man turns to Aiba, eyes burning with impatience and annoyance, and blinks twice. Now that Aiba has a full frontal view of the man, the first thing that comes out from his mouth is an “Oh.” 

Realization has just hit home when Aiba clearly sees the man in front of him, with his full MFD field uniform, white stark pressed shirt and pair snug black cargo pants, full with gleaming boots and belt that accentuates just right around the waist. He already has a glance of the profile but the combination of piercing eyes and plush lips is another impact Aiba hasn’t been expecting. 

It is very clear that the man is annoyed, but Aiba also sees a glint in his eyes as he takes Aiba in, making him aware of how he might look this morning: rumpled hair, loose tie, and old comfortable jeans. 

With a smile, and his heart doing slow warm summersaults, Aiba holds out a hand. “I’m Aiba Masaki. Nice to meet you.”

The man eyes Aiba’s outstretch hand with an awkward gesture. His right hand doesn’t move from his side. Instead he uses his left hand to pull his right long sleeve, as Aiba’s eyes follow the movement, and reveal the end of a white plaster cast covering half the back of his palm.

“Nice to meet you too,” the man says as he looks up, catching Aiba’s stare at his right hand. 

“Ah, I’m sorry. I should’ve—.“ Aiba takes a step back and withdraw his outstretched hand. But before he fully retreat it, the man’s left hand catches his palm, fingers holding on Aiba’s palm.

The man holds his grip lightly, trying to offer a weak smile and then introduces himself. “Matsumoto Jun.”

Aiba smiles at the introduction. Maybe it’s not that bad. Timing cannot be helped, but this is a beginning all the same. He says, “Looking forward to work with you.”

The corner of Matsumoto’s mouth visibly twitches and he nods weakly. “Yeah.”

Aiba pulls his hand and there goes their first meeting. “Why don’t I show you your desk and our brief for today, then we can get started?”

He could hear the heavy sigh from Matsumoto but he ignores it. It must be difficult to be assigned somewhere new. And the plaster cast, what’s with that? Does it hurt? What happened to his right arm? And Matsumoto looks so sad, aside from annoyed and angry, and Aiba finds it a little bit challenging all the same. 

The man follows Aiba to his desk, which is next to Aiba, and sits at the chair with another heavy sigh.

“Do you need something?” Aiba has to ask. “I mean, you seem like someone who missed their morning coffee fix.”

For the first time that morning, Aiba has the pleasure to see the scowl on Matsumoto’s face turning into a smile. It’s amazingly beautiful. All the lines, enhancing those sharp eyes, and, Aiba just notices, sharp thick eyebrows. “Coffee would be nice. If you can show me how—“

Aiba feels a warm sensation on his chest. It’s still early to say it, but maybe Kanjiya-chan was not entirely right when she said that she didn’t envy him for having a new partner. “If it’s coffee I have all you need right here.” He points out to his large tumbler. “The pantry has average coffee if you want, but I have the premium. I’ll show me you how next time. This time, consider it a welcome service.”

Matsumoto raises that eyebrow, but then nods. “Okay. I’ll take mine black.”

“Let me get a cup for you.” Aiba passes Nino’s desk on his way to the pantry, catching a question aimed silently, but he shakes his head in dismissal. Later, there will be time later. And Nino goes back to his documents and Aiba quickly takes Ohno’s cup without a thought.

Back at his desk, he ceremoniously pours a generous amount of coffee into the cup in front of Matsumoto who observes his gesture with an interest. It’s then Aiba turns to see Matsumoto takes the cup and breathes the raising coffee steam with delight.

“Smells really good,” he says, before taking a small sip. “Oh. And this is really _really_ good.”

Aiba smiles widely, proud and happy to be able to give someone else coffee happiness. “I’m glad you like it. Thanks.”

“I’m just going to savor this slowly, if you don’t mind. Then you can brief me on anything that I have to do today.”

“Take your time,” Aiba says, satisfied with the outcome of their first meeting. 

On the pantry, Aiba can hear Kanjiya-chan complaining as Ohno tries to locate his usual mug. “But I just put your cup right here, Captain!”

 

After coffee, Matsumoto’s mood seems a bit lighter but he’s still insisting to question his being confined in the office instead of being in the field. With coffee in his hand, he follows Aiba’s explanation about their daily brief. On today’s brief: they will need to visit two locations in muggle building that have failed to submit their magical fire compliance reports. There’s also a school visitation regarding a follow up for a fire drill application scheduled on the afternoon.

“What happened if the building failed to submit a fire compliance report?” Matsumoto asks, after Aiba finished his explanation.

Aiba says, his fingers absently flicking over the documents folder at the table, “At third violation their magical fire licenses will be revoked. We usually give them reasonable deadlines, and benefit of a doubt, preventing such result and making efforts to approach them before its due.”

“No offense but it sounds lenient. And, not to mention, seems ineffective.”

Aiba shrugs without taking too much heed over the hint of disdain in Matsumoto’s tone. “Sure, it is not easy. It depends on how bad the case sometimes, but either way they always come with different reasons. The job is never dull.”

‘Really? Sounds pretty much the usual knocking door-to-door business to me. Salary man’s work or some sort.”

“I wouldn't say it is filled with excitement. It can be some boring sometimes, but it is not to be overlooked.” Aiba needs to knead his knees when Matsumoto’s statement stings. He fully understand that what he does daily is important because he’s contributing to safety. Yet, Matsumoto apparently has a different view on this; so what if he doesn’t immediately approve? “Safety is our main priority after all.”

There something in Matsumoto’s voice that eases the sting, how his eyes turns a degree softer, how his tone sounds, at the very least, apologetic. “I didn't mean to offend you or anyone but you must admit the job does sound boring “

Yet the deed is done already; Aiba somehow knows that nothing he says in their first meeting that can change the perspective. Perhaps Matsumoto needs to experience the job himself. Perhaps demonstration and field visit are one effective way to wipe the arrogance. Perhaps Aiba could tell him to shut the fuck up for Matsumoto knows nothing. Perhaps not. Perhaps definitely not, Aiba concludes. They will start today and see what happens from there.

“We’ll get right onto the fun later.” Aiba nods at him, shifting the documents back to his desk unceremoniously before leaning back against his chair. ‘If you don't have any further questions, I’d like to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

There goes the eyebrow going up again, Aiba notices. He can clearly see that Matsumoto must have expected a serious question when he frowns deeper, half expecting Aiba to start quizzing him on the details he had just explained earlier. 

“What do you want for lunch?” Aiba bows his body closer to Matsumoto, keeping his voice down. “Because I think I can get away without ordering one for Kanjiya-chan today. We should just go and head straight to—“ Aiba takes a glance of the name on top of his documents, “Kinoshita-san residence afterwards.

“What?” Matsumoto blinks in confusion for few moments. “Your question is about what I want for lunch?”

Aiba nods, in full seriousness, because lunch is very serious. “Yes.” 

There's a small chuckle threatening to escape Matsumoto’s throat, but it doesn’t come out. “I thought you were going to quiz me or something. I was worried because I think I only hearing you half ear for the last hour.” 

Aiba shrugs, smiling knowingly. “Your eyes were glassy at random times. That much I can deduce.” He wants to add that he suspects it is because of the pain that probably comes from the plaster cast arm, but he doesn’t say anything else. Not now. “You can consider this an unreliable inside info but lunch is very important around here. We can go in half an hour, but I'd need to report to Kanjiya-chan.”

“She's scary in a weird way.” Matsumoto grimaces.

“She's a lot more than scary. It'd best, trust me on this one, to not go against her.” Aiba grins.

“I'll go with your recommendation then. Anything is fine.”

“Very well. Let me leave you so you can set up your way up into the system, pack. I'll go set things up with her. We should be ready to go in 30.”

With his documents folder already back in his arms, Aiba stops his movement to turn to Matsumoto only to find that the man hasn’t made any movement, only staring at him a slight disbelief in his expression. He asks, “Yes?”

“Nothing actually. You didn't say… Aren’t we going to talk about…?” Matsumoto makes a vague gesture, raising his cast arm slightly, before staring to Aiba again with questions in his eyes. 

At that very moment, Aiba makes a firm decision: he will not be the one who brings the subject up. If Matsumoto wants to be annoyed at their job, he can do so. If Matsumoto doesn’t want to talk about the plaster cast arm, he can do so. If Matsumoto wants to talk about it, he will talk about it—but Aiba wouldn’t be the one who asks the question. 

There’s that mixed expression again across Matsumoto’s face. Perhaps it’s gratitude for not making a big deal of his cast arm, but Aiba doesn’t really mind, it’s simple courtesy. Perhaps it’s another form of annoyance, and for that Aiba could only apologize. Aiba keeps his expression neutral, polite with a hint of smile. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” Matsumoto finally says, letting his gaze off Aiba after a while. “I'll get myself set up here.”

“Okay. And, ah, the system password is _hotmusclemen_.” When a snort comes from Matsumoto, Aiba tries to wink while making a subtle thumb gesture pointing at Kanjiya-chan who's busy typing at her desk. “Don't ask me. That's just the way it is.”

Matsumoto finally lets out streams of chuckles and Aiba laughs and silently congratulates himself for a morning brief well done. 

 

When Aiba parks in front of tall building with its front wall with vines and moss, Matsumoto frowns. “I don’t think I’ve seen this building and I’m quite familiar with the area.”

“That’s because you don’t live here or authorized to be here. They have one of the strongest residence spells.”

“I see.”

Aiba shifts in his seat, now that he needs to stop being polite and just get a clear answer once and for all. “And I just want to confirm one thing, and I need an honest answer.” He makes sure his voice serious and neutral. He hasn’t mentioned anything about earlier at the station because it’s none of his business, but now they’re going to the field, the detail is necessary.

“Yes?”

“Can you use your wand?”

Matsumoto’s face falls again, and Aiba feels another sting in his chest. He has specifically asked Matsumoto to answer honestly, and it might hurt, because he knows for sure how terrible he must feel if he couldn’t use his wand. It would be worse for Matsumoto, judging from how he usually takes the lead of action over the Central MFD.

“Do you trust me if I said yes?”

“Are you saying you can use your wand?” Aiba asks again. “If you say you can, then I take your word on it. As you said earlier, this visit may be an easy task, but I need to know if we can cover each other. It’s in the rule.” 

Matsumoto sighs, looking down to the folded right arm on his lap. “Alright. I truly apologize for my previous remarks back at the office. I didn’t realize—.”

Aiba cuts him. “No need, really. I just need to know. We might not find anything but we’re in the field. You’d know this drill better, right?”

“Right.” Matsumoto says, looking straight into Aiba’s eyes now in full seriousness. “I can use my wand.” A pause. “But only for simple hexes and spells. Nothing complicated. I also—”

Sensing that Matsumoto will only turn the situation back to what resembled their awkward morning, Aiba cuts him again with a smile. “And that’s good enough for me. Nothing complicated sounds just right.”

Matsumoto looks like he wants to add more to it, to say more on the topic, now while they are talking about his arm, but then decides to nod in silent agreement: They will talk about this matter another time, at another place.

“Let’s go then.”

They go out the car and Aiba goes straight to the trunk to prepare their bags. He prepares a large silver suitcase and one simple black backpack—he had this all thought out from the station. Out of concern that Matsumoto wouldn’t be able to use his right hand, he has packed the equipment in a bag pack. “I can use your help with this,” he says, pointing at the bag pack.

Matsumoto eyes him, more like he’s suspecting that Aiba has done him another favor again, and nods. “Okay.”

“These are mostly precaution stuffs. Things we rarely use, but they are necessary for on site inspection.”

“Okay.”

“If you don’t mind, I can help you a bit,” Aiba says, holding the bag pack at the ready for Matsumoto to put it on. “It’s just a little bit heavy.”

Matsumoto shrugs, and turns to put his arms in the loops. When it is already settled on his back, he turns again. “Will simple _Accio_ work for this?”

“It will definitely do. Just summon whatever you need by tapping it twice,” Aiba says, gesturing the movement. “And it will listen to your spell without fail.”

Matsumoto rummages the inner pocket of his jacket and produces his wand. Aiba definitely notices that the man is holding it with his left hand, keeping his right hand on his side. Matsumoto then reaches out to his back and taps bag pack twice, producing purple sparks. There’s a hint of smile as he says, “I guess I’m ready then.”

“You are.” Aiba smiles. He hefts a large suitcase in his left hand, keeping his right arm on his wand pocket. He turns, ready to lead them to their first assignment. “And now we are. Shall we?”

 

Kinoshita-san is cooperative at the end, but they spent a lot of time convincing him to duly fulfill the requirement of fire prevention module.

Matsumoto stays silent and alert when they are at the living room, leaving Aiba the duty to talk to the old wizard. They do a tour around the house—officially an inspection but Aiba insists that they call this a tour—only to find several fire regulation renewals Kinoshita-san needs to do within the month.

“The main problems are the fire escape and the top floor extinguisher. I’m sure that won’t set you back a lot,” Aiba says as he signs the receipt for the inspection. “And we expect you to complete the installation by next week.”

“Sure,” Kinoshita-san says. 

His smile seems sincere, but Aiba has met a lot of people who only smiles and doesn’t comply. He tries to assure the old wizard once again. “I’ll be here next month, on the 12th, and we shall see together.”

Kinoshita-san bows, and they make their exit.

Back at the car, when they have already stored their equipment back, Matsumoto finally says something. “Are you sure he’s going to comply? It does seem too easy for me.”

“You can never be sure. That’s why I scheduled another visit next month.”

“Meaning you need to work on this case twice.”

“That will also mean that we’re being thorough. It might take more effort, but once again safety is our main concern, right?”

Matsumoto sighs with an accusatory gaze to his folded right arm, and says, “Right.”

Aiba wants to say sorry for suddenly bringing this up again, without thinking first about Matsumoto’s circumstances, but the man already leans back on his seat and turns to see out of the window. He silently turns the engine on and drives away to their next assignment.

 

Matsumoto has fallen to another silence after few more uneventful visits to the today’s list. This time, the drive is short and soon enough they arrive at an already empty school ground.

As he parks the car, Aiba wonders if he could actually offer an out for Matsumoto this time. No harms in trying, he thinks. “If you want to just wait in the car this time, that’s completely fine. This meeting should be quite short since I only need to confirm few things before the actual fire drill exercise next week.”

Matsumoto seems to consider the option for a while, but eventually obligation wins. “I’ll go with you.”

Aiba nods and gets off the car. No suitcase and bag this time, just their wands is enough. As they enter the door, Aiba duly stores his shoes on one of the boxes, and proceeds to find the principal office. 

The meet with the principal office is indeed short. Aiba presents the plan for next week, checking several points with the principal, and they make decision for the actual day.

“I think we have everything covered, Sir,” Aiba says with hand outstretch and wide smile. “I look forward for next week drills.”

The principal insists to walk them out of the building and they bow politely and take their leave. “Thank you, Officers. I believe our students will also have a great time this year around.”

Back at the car, Aiba just realizes that Matsumoto hasn’t really said anything during the meeting.

“So, we are going to go here next week?” Matsumoto finally says when they are already driving back to the station.

“The drill is on Friday. I think you can be spared of little kids mobs on the first week on the job.”

Matsumoto flinches visibly. “Is this also something that we need to do?”

Aiba nods, unable to hold his smile. “Is there something bothering you?”

“Kids,” Matsumoto mutters darkly as if it explains everything.

Aiba laughs at that. “Tell me about it. They’ve been giving me nightmares. But they can also be fun, so it’s just a battle I need to go through.”

“Isn’t there anyone else that can do this part of the job?”

“You mean in the division?” At Matsumoto’s nod, Aiba then continues. “I’m the only one who has license to do field work. And Captain too actually, but he’s busy with his night shift and liaising with Central, so that leaves me with the task at hand.”

“Isn’t it tasking? You need to do all the work.”

“Kanjiya-chan once has a field license but then she didn’t pass the extension exam, so now she’s on desk duty. Which I think is better for her to be honest. I don’t think she has the patience to deal with, say, people like Kinoshita-san today.”

Matsumoto rolls his eyes, smiling darkly. “I wouldn’t have thought.”

“You’ll get around our pace along the way,” Aiba says encouragingly. “And it is a huge help to have someone from the Central to work with us, even only on weekly basis. You basically giving another certified opinion for the entire fire prevention visits we are making. That way a case could be filed and marked completed faster.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Aiba replies. They arrive at the parking lot, and Aiba smoothly parks the car before turning to Matsumoto with a smile. “Now for the fun part. Reports.”

They head back inside and Aiba deals with all of their equipment after sending Matsumoto to go straight to report to Kanjiya-chan and deal with his report. After taking his time, Aiba goes back in to see Matsumoto is on his table, typing furiously one-handedly, as if he doesn’t want to spare any more minutes to deal with the work. His eyes meet with Nino on his way—with a silent question asked and a shrugs as an answer—to his desk. 

Aiba goes to his desk, soon absorbed in writing his own reports. Nino passes to drop a folder on the corner of his desk; Kanjiya-chan goes to Matsumoto’s desk to check on him. Aiba hears her murmuring something, catching a glimpse of her waving her wand and smoothing something with the report and hearing Matsumoto replies in low tone. 

At the end of the shift, Aiba looks up to see Matsumoto shrugging into his coat with difficulty as he arranges his cast right arm to stay balanced, the glorious sight of the uniform clad Matsumoto is once again concealed on thick departmental coat.

“I’m done for today,” Matsumoto says. “She cleared me already.”

Aiba nods. “Okay.”

“Don’t you want to grab something to eat together after shift?” Kanjiya-chan asks as she materializes stealthily beside Aiba’s desk. “We all need to properly welcome you. And it would be fun.”

Aiba sees the twitch on Matsumoto’s pursed lips, and dab of sweat forming on his temple—from exhaustion, Aiba thinks—and decides to spare the man for the day. “It’s been a long day, Kanjiya-chan. Can we do that another day?”

Kanjiya-chan frowns. “But all we need to do today is to wait for Captain and then we can go somewhere close.”

“I am thankful for the offer,” Matsumoto says with a deep bow, “but I would have to refuse. As Aiba-san had said, it has been a long day.”

Kanjiya-chan is not easily convinced and presses further. “Are you sure? Both of you?”

“Next time will be better,” Aiba says to Kanjiya-chan before turning to give Matsumoto a smile. “Nice work today.” 

Sensing the chance Aiba has been giving him, Matsumoto takes another deep bow and nods to Kanjiya-chan before turning without another word to the exit, leaving the two observe him in silence.

“Did something happen?” Kanjiya-chan finally says.

“Nothing much, but it’s definitely better if it’s not today. Maybe later when he’s more used to this pace.”

“If you say so, Aiba-kun.” She shrugs and turns to go back to her desk. “But you are the one who’s going to tell Captain that we are cancelling dinner plan today.”

Aiba chuckles, muttering under his breath as he turns his focus back to his reports. “I’m always the one who got to tell Captain anyway.”

 

Matsumoto arrives on time the next Wednesday, entering the door at precisely 8AM. After setting his coat away, revealing his uniform and making him appeared so out of place in the office—he turns to see Aiba’s desk is still a mess with no hint of its owner’s presence. 

Nino and Kanjiya-chan who are already hunkering on Nino’s monitor to work on their docs, look up and greet him.

“Morning to you.”

“Morning,” Matsumoto replies, looking a bit lost without Aiba to brief him what to do. He sits on his chair and turns to take the situation.

Nino decides to inform him. “Aiba-chan is not here yet, so no coffee.”

“I see,” Matsumoto says, nodding to them before standing up and walking toward the pantry. “I’ll have coffee first then.”

“Be our guest,” Kanjiya-chan says before adding softly under her breath, “If you can stomach it.”

When Matsumoto has gone into the pantry, Nino leans aside to Kanjiya-chan and whispers, “Sharp at 8. Wow, he’s almost as bad as Sho-kun.”

“They do have great discipline at Central, I guess.” Kanjiya-chan’s focus is back at Nino’s monitor, her fingers tapping keys to make notation on the file.

“But it’s scary, and annoying,” Nino says as he watches Kanjiya-chan marking all the parts he had been slacking about with pinpointed accuracy.

“Maybe you have to be scary and annoying to be able to work at Central. Maybe that’s one of the main requirements.”

Nino turns to stare at Kanjiya-chan for a moment before saying, “So why are you still here?”

“I’ll take that as compliment, thank you.” She returns the stare with an eye roll, and slowly and dramatically taps save option shortcut with a scary smile. “And you’ve been slacking too much for this one, Ninomiya-kun. I would need this fixed by midday, okay?”

Nino rolls his eyes. “Fine.”

They then hear a series of coughs from the pantry before Matsumoto emerges from the pantry with a funny disgusted expression and a cup of steaming coffee. Work tension momentarily forgotten, they both double with laughter, sending Matsumoto to a grimace. 

“You should’ve waited for Aiba-chan,” Nino says, between chuckles. 

Matsumoto sighs, staring at his cup with a visible disgust. “Tell me about it.”

Kanjiya-chan covers her mouth with her palm as she tries to stop her giggles. “Now you know.”

 

“ _This_ is a private residence?” Matsumoto leans forward dramatically, to get a better look of the grand mansion-like building in front of him as Aiba drives through the driveway. 

This is their last stop for the day, after a visit to an underground mansion that had been holding off their fire prevention annual report and a short stop at a youth wizard center.

“Yes. The brief doesn't say much, because there isn't much info on the property,” Aiba replies as he parks the car just behind an old car near the terrace. “This is my second visit actually. My first one didn’t go very well. Let's see if this time it works well.”

“Spectacular,” Matsumoto mutters as he gets out the car to join Aiba while observing the turrets on the far side of the building. He is still at awe when Aiba helps him with his field back pack. “Just frickin’ spectacular.”

The head butler of the house greets them before leading them to wait in a vast living dusty room.

“What a room,” Matsumoto says in awe. He keeps on his feet, his eyes darting everywhere to observe the old paintings and ancient ornaments that adorn the surrounding walls. “Marvelous.”

Aiba, sitting on one of the old chair, is a little bit nervous. There’s something not entirely comfortable about the grand place, something about ancient magic vibe around the house. He says, “Keep your wand ready.”

“What?” Matsumoto turns to see Aiba shifting in his seat, his hand inside his wand pocket. “Oh, really.”

“Really. It’s just too formal.”

Nodding his agreement, Matsumoto steps to stand next to Aiba, now in full alert as they wait for the house owner.

The butler enters to announce the arrival of lady of the house just seconds before said lady in sweeping robe marches through the door. Aiba springs into his feet and observes the old lady as she is taking her sweet time to get into her designated high chair in front of them.

When she finally looks up to both of them from her chair, eyeing with mixture of annoyance and curiosity, Aiba says, “I apologize for bothering your day, Mori-sama.”

Her eyebrow arches in question as she responds. “You’re going to bother my day then, officer?”

“Not at all, Ma’am. We are visiting under an official authority. You should have been informed beforehand. Still I apologize if this doesn’t suit your schedule.”

She only hums as she takes her eyes off Aiba and shifts to observe Matsumoto, who keeps on standing at ease with a serious expression, his left hand inside his wand pocket. Her eyes brighten considerably over the sight of Matsumoto’s uniform. “You on the other hand do seem official to me,” she squints a bit reading Matsumoto’s name tag on his chest, “Officer Matsumoto.”

A chuckle threatens to escape Aiba, because he knows exactly how Matsumoto would look even without turning to his side, all official and straight faced. Perhaps this is a good sign. Perhaps Matsumoto could help smoothen this visit after all.

Aiba begins his explanation, quoting their departmental line, duly informing that the mansion has fallen behind on reporting in compliance with the regulation. Mori-san’s eyes often dart to Matsumoto, perhaps trying to read what’s behind the seriousness, and go back to Aiba as he finishes his explanation.

At the end of Aiba’s long explanation, she leans back against her chair, eyes straight into Aiba’s with a hint of displeasure. “Officer, are you insinuating that this house is not in compliance with the regulations?”

Before Aiba can answer the curt question, Matsumoto clears his throat and does it for him. “I can assure you that my partner implied nothing of that sort.”

The sudden participation captures Mori-san attention completely and Aiba glances up to see Matsumoto is still in his at ease stance, neutral expression with a hint of smile, before trying to take over the explanation again. Matsumoto once again is ahead of him.

“Mori-sama,” Matsumoto says, with a lazy drawl in his voice, oozing patience and authority at the same time—how can he do that Aiba wants to ask. “We are trying to help you with your magic compliance report. I’m sure you have no intention to lag behind on them, and that’s why we are here to help you to make sure there’s no fire hazards in this gorgeous property.” 

The smile that blooms on Mori-sama face answers everything. They ends up taking a grand tour of the property with the lady herself, her hand clutching Matsumoto’s left arm tightly and Aiba trailing behind exchanging nods every now and then with the amused butler. 

 

“Charming her to infinity,” Aiba says when they are back in the car. Matsumoto has just gotten an invitation to visit her anytime for another tour. And Aiba is pleased to have all the forms and notes he needed completed. “I have never tried that approach before.”

Matsumoto shrugs. “You need to set your foot on this kind of thing, you know. I have a feeling that sometimes you are too nice to these people.”

“I’ve heard that before. But you did great with your charming way. It was impressive.” Aiba laughs at Matsumoto’s frown and slight flush. “I never thought you caught up with the fire prevention book so fast.”

 

On Monday somehow none of them, including Aiba, has the energy to go out and buy lunch; everyone is on full alert for the end of month performance check.

Kanjiya-chan spares all of them and decides to have ramen delivery instead. And since Ohno is on day shift that day, they gather around Ohno’s office desk—one that has less clutters, since Captain, as she pointed out, spends so much time on the field. They start their hot bowls with delight, going through the first slurps of hunger. Then the topic, of course, returns to Matsumoto. 

Ohno finally has his say on the new addition of their office. “Why is Matsumoto not here when I’m around?”

Kanjiya-chan shrugs gently and continues to focus on her soup and Nino ignores the question completely. Before Aiba can give an answer for their Captain, Nino brings up one of his concerns to the table. “I do have to say, that brooding aura of his is rather attractive.”

Aiba looks at Nino’s face, mouth filled with noodles, and tries to grin. While Kanjiya-chan snorts with her mouth full but manages to swallow before anything else.

Ohno frowns, his cold ramen forgotten. “Shouldn’t I meet him already? He has been here, for what, a month?”

Kanjiya-chan sighs. “Captain, I gave you my report at the end of week and put the notice in the board. How come you still miss that?”

It has been a month, not that anyone counting, but Aiba sort of does so he chooses to help Captain this time. He says softly, “One month by last week.” 

Getting the opening he was waiting for, Nino doesn’t miss a beat. “Yet we haven't heard anything juicy from you, Aiba-chan. How was it so far?” 

“How was what?” Aiba tries to appear to be clueless but they been friends for a while and they know each other very well. And Nino, with the help of Kanjiya-chan he is sure, will nag him constantly about this anyway. “I suppose you all mean how’s Matsumoto.”

There’s a hint of disappointment in Nino’s tone. “Still last name basis? I would have thought those rounds of field work have already sent you both close.”

Aiba slurps his ramen noisily to divert the attention, taking the time to choose his words correctly. He wouldn’t want to say bad things about Matsumoto because there’s nothing bad to talk about in the first place. Annoying or not, the man is a colleague. “Not necessarily. He's very serious and can be so quiet sometimes.”

Kanjiya-chan steals Nino’s _gyoza_ with a straight face. "He's too busy to be annoyed at everyone, silently brooding all the time.” 

“To be fair,” Aiba says—now that they are talking about Matsumoto’s brooding mood, it may be the right time to settle this once and for all, “I would have been too if my right arm were injured.”

“You know,” Nino says, his tone not very sharp any longer, “I heard about it from Tegoshi-chan back at Central. He’s been on the job when he had the accident.”

Kanjiya-chan nods before turning to Aiba. “Did he tell you anything about it?”

“No. Not a word.” Aiba shrugs. “Not that I’m asking him about it. As long as he can still use his wand, it’s all good and not against the rule.”

“Still, it wouldn’t safe to go on to the field with an incapable partner,” Kanjiya-chan adds, setting her chopsticks down on the table. “It’s his wand hand, right?”

“Yes, but he’s more capable than all of you, I’m sure. He’s a qualified MFD officer,” Aiba says. “And he has his way of working. A bit different from me, but that’s okay. We get our job done.”

“He sounds interesting,” Ohno says. “Or maybe you guys are just exaggerating.”

Captain,” Nino says with a sly smile, “you should personally experience the glare and the dark aura yourself. Then you now that we are telling you the truth.”

“Maybe you should try to drive around for field work with him for half a day, Captain,” Aiba adds, now the idea seems hilarious to him. 

“But I’m on night shift,” Ohno says as if it is the answer for everything. “How about Nino? I can assign him to field work.”

“No way. Aiba-chan has his job, I have mine,” Nino says with a grin. “Safe behind my desk.”

“I thought you were complaining about not having work time with Matsumoto. I would have thought you were jealous of Aiba-kun,” Kanjiya-chan says, nudging Nino with her elbow playfully.

Nino ignores the nudge and turns the topic back to Matsumoto. “No such thing. Although I admit that he's pretty.” 

“He's more than pretty,” Kanjiya-chan adds, nodding in agreement rather enthusiastically. “Even more. Way more.“

Nino hoots over Kanjiya-chan’s sudden burst of interest. “Oh, Kanjiya-chan, I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“When one is pretty I don’t mind saying one is pretty,” she continues. “I bet he has some hard muscles underneath that stark white uniform of his.”

Aiba is laughing now. “Kanjiya-chan, wow.”

She turns to Aiba, poked him on the arm, and squints in disbelief. “Don't tell me you don't notice that body, Aiba-kun. I saw how you look at him every time he waves goodbye at the end of Wednesday.”

“You miss nothing as always, Kanjiya-chan.” Aiba smiles with a flush and Nino chuckles, clapping his hands. And Aiba’s only defense was: “Well, he _is_ pretty.” 

“He sure is,” Nino and Kanjiya-chan says dreamily. A moment later, they all sigh together as they continue savoring the remaining of their ramen before they realize that Ohno has stopped eating, chopsticks hanging midair and staring at them all.

“Now I’m almost sure you all are just exaggerating.”

“See for yourself. He’s around on Wednesday,” Nino says. ”And you need to be here in the morning since Aiba-chan is going to the field all day.”

“But I have night shift on Tuesday and Wednesday is my sleeping day.” 

“Meeting Matsumoto, the pretty firefighter, or sleep? Tough choice indeed.” Kanjiya-chan rolls her eyes. “All I can say now is that he is worth losing sleep to, Captain, so make your choice.”

 

That next night, Aiba receives a pleasant surprise. By the time he gets home there is a short text message from Matsumoto, politely saying _I’ll see you tomorrow at work_. 

After a while, Aiba decides to reply with a short but personal message. _I may be late. As usual. But see you tomorrow. :)_ Nothing comes as a reply but Aiba is still smiling, finding it is nice to have Matsumoto is starting to care about his temporary job.

 

What has started as slow Wednesday has become an accepted routine by the second month, with Matsumoto getting into the pace of their division work almost seamlessly. Aiba is still avoiding talking about the cast out of courtesy. Matsumoto talks more and he doesn’t look annoyed so often anymore. And of course, Aiba becomes more relaxed around him. Still, there are times when certain conversations come and they argue about the job again. One time, it starts naturally once they were having lunch before the usual Wednesday afternoon rounds. 

“Don't you think that we should be more proactive in some ways?”

Aiba has to compliment Matsumoto for bringing the topic up so casually, causing him to almost choke on his miso soup. “What do you mean?”

“What's the point of preventing if you only visiting a very few of them?” Matsumoto says with a frown. “Isn’t it almost useless in a way?”

“Did all you feel what we've been doing all these week were useless?” Aiba considers this random question more as a loud thought instead of accusation; Aiba is used to how Matsumoto talks his mind frankly by now.

Matsumoto doesn’t look at all comfortable with Aiba’s reply but he gives a small nod of confirmation.

Aiba takes a moment before he puts down his chopsticks and focuses on the conversation. This is serious in a way; he doesn’t want to give either the wrong impression or something out of the ordinary. “I believe we cannot do everything. And if there is a small effort that we can do to make things just a little bit safer, I don’t mind going an extra mile to get it.” 

“I just— I feel like we haven't done enough. Like there’s so much to do, and we haven’t done enough.”

“We never will,” Aiba answers lightly, while realization comes to him, that indeed they will never do enough of this job, and that’s okay for him.

Matsumoto stares at his bowl for a while before saying, “And you're okay with that?”

Aiba smiles this time; they are going to talk about it anyway. Matsumoto has always been curious and this time, at least, Aiba can answer his curiosity, or even tease him for it a bit. “Are you asking me, a dull officer, or you're hoping for a department formal statement?”

“All the same, I guess.”

Thinking that he has already being straightforward with the topic, maybe a background will help Matsumoto goes through this topic better. “Do you know that we are only getting like 5% of departmental fund out of the entire metropolitan area MFD?”

“Really?”

“Your department, what people call as the actual action, gets most of the penny. We only get crumbs of what you're getting.”

Matsumoto seems amused.

Aiba continues, “When something so simple such as your siren is broken, you will get immediate replacement. When our equipment is broken from overused we need almost a full year to get our budget approved.”

“Oh.”

“We're lucky to have Nino who is relentless and excels with accounting. Not to mention Kanjiya-chan is the savior of all saviors. Captain and I are probably helpless without them.”

“I can see that,” Matsumoto says with a smile before adding, “But you are not bad either.”

“Why thank you.” Aiba feels the warmth spreading into him, smiling back at Matsumoto because now he can answer his question without a doubt. “I’m totally okay with that.”

They go back to their food, slowly going through their order. They still have ten more minutes before they have to go and he leans against his chair to enjoy the last of their ice tea and new agreement. 

Matsumoto does the same, before breaking the comfortable silence. “One more thing. I like that no one in your office doesn’t say anything about my handicap.”

Aiba only smiles. “It’s not much as a handicap. You got hurt while you’re helping people. Isn’t it a small price to pay?”

“Easy for you to say that.”

“And you have that cool cast, and a moment to work with us lowly people in the prevention division. I know you miss the action, I am so sorry for that, but isn’t good to take a slower pace once in a while?”

“You guys do have the slowest pace but I don’t think I agree with the lowly part.” 

Aiba responds with a laugh. “We might be slow compare to your technical division, but we finish our work in time.”

“All thanks to Kanjiya-chan.”

“Well, that.”

“She should be Captain.”

“She should. She deserves it. But she’s not, and she’s totally okay with it. We already have a cool Captain,” Aiba chuckles. “And we’re all totally okay with that.”

 

It is Nino’s idea, that much Aiba knows, but it is Kanjiya-chan who shows up on his desk on morning, holding a cup of coffee to hide her smile, and says. “We were thinking—.“ They could have said that it was Ohno’s idea but Aiba will still see through the scheme; so he listens to the silly proposal—with Nino shouting and correcting Kanjiya-chan once in a while, leaving her rolling her eyes with impatience—with an amused smile.

Unexpectedly, it is not difficult to ask Matsumoto for an office night out. Aiba has thought that he’d refuse again like the first day, but the man only shrugs when Aiba asks him, saying that it needs to be done and he’s kind of expecting it already. But Matsumoto doesn't quite understand why they all are huddled in Aiba’s car on a Friday night, going to: “Where are we going again?”

“Just couple of blocks away. I made reservation on this famous yakiniku restaurant,” Kanjiya-chan says from the back seat. 

Matsumoto glances at Aiba, finding only full concentration in driving, and question further. “And any specific reason why we need to go by car?”

“It’s drizzling,” Captain says, currently crushed between Kanjiya-chan’s large back and Nino who decides to curl on his seat. “And Aiba-chan doesn’t mind.”

“Actually, it was Nino’s idea,” Aiba finally says, glancing to the rear mirror to meet Nino’s gaze. “He just doesn’t feel like walking today.”

Nino punches the back of the driver seat lightly. “You blabber.”

Aiba refuses to let them off in front of the restaurant, instead he takes them all, amid weak protests from the backseat and an amused chuckles next to him, to the paid parking lot, not letting them out and go until the car is parked and paid. 

The private booth Kanjiya-chan had reserved gives them enough privacy to settle down and relax. Ohno stays close to Matsumoto, showing interest and posing questions about himself: the way a Captain should do, he says, to which Kanjiya-chan says that he’s like two months late, Matsumoto has been with them forever and he’s making the effort only now. 

Nino flinches when he sees the menu and Aiba helps Kanjiya-chan to order. When the dishes arrive, the grill is burning, Kanjiya-chan and, to everyone’s surprise, Matsumoto start grilling duty, while Nino and Aiba wait patiently, talking about a report they’ve been working together. 

Ohno, sitting on the head of the table, with a dreamy expression—although Aiba suspects that it was drowsiness since the man has deliberately does double nightshift so he could join the revelry. “This is nice.”

All heads turn to him: Nino’s laughing at the expression openly, Kanjiya-chan snorting her amusement, Aiba smiling, but it is Matsumoto who nods seriously, fully knowing that this is as much as a warm welcome he’s going to get, and says “Thank you, Captain.”

 

The MFD radio usually are muted or if not, put on very low volume at most time. But on that particular day, on Matsumoto’s request, Aiba put them on. 

When they are through with their second visit and on their way to the third, Matsumoto finally tells Aiba his reason. “I have been having this bad feeling. I went for a drink with my station friends the other day and they told me that there were series of arson happening in random factories. One of them happened just outside your jurisdiction.”

“I read about that on the weekly brief.” Aiba nods. “But did they confirm it was arson?”

“Not really,” Matsumoto says. “But the preliminary report is leaning toward it. But speculation has been spreading among us.”

“I see.”

They finish their third and fourth visits without a glitch. Just when Aiba starts driving them back to the office, emergency announcements pour through the speaker, reporting and asking assistance from all active officers to a fire site, this time, within Aiba’s jurisdiction.

“That’s just 20 minutes from here, isn’t it?”

“Matsumoto, that’s none of our business,” Aiba says, as he pulls the car over. He turns to Matsumoto, seeing determination, and sighs. “We shouldn’t be involved in it. It’s dangerous.”

Matsumoto stares at Aiba for a full minute, lips pursing and eyes flashing with stubbornness. “Either you drive me there, or I’m going off and flag a taxi that could take me there under 10.”

Aiba sighs before he complies. He prefers to avoid fire sites but perhaps he could just stay on the far end of the police line. After all Matsumoto is not in active duty of the MFD. “Fine. But we are not going to do anything there, okay.”

“That’s not for you to say.”

Aiba only sighs, making sure Matsumoto hears it, making sure that Matsumoto knows that he is against this, and steels himself; after all, this is all about Matsumoto not about him. He pulls the car into drive and makes a U-turn on the next intersection heading to the direction of site.

Not a minute in, Matsumoto begins protesting. “Can you drive faster? This is going on snail pace.”

“I’m on the speed limit here,” Aiba says.

“At this pace, we will get there tomorrow!” The voice is pitched high, laced frustration Aiba can tell; yet it stings all the same.

“This is not an practical fire department car.” He says with finality. “This car is not licensed for MFD emergency. We are going by the civilian limit and that’s all I can do.”

“If I’m driving, we would have arrived there.”

For the first time since they meet, Aiba feels the need to point out that Matsumoto is not able to drive. “Under the law, you cannot drive with one hand, you know.”

At that pinpoint jab, Matsumoto huffs audibly and finally leans against his seat in defeat. “It’s not that I want to have one hand.”

“I know, and let me just drive. I’ll get you there in,” Aiba says, glancing at the clock and the speedometer, “around 5 minutes.”

They meet a police block just few hundred meters from the fire scene and Aiba is just about to maneuver the car to get a space for parking when Matsumoto is already jumping out from the car before he properly stops. 

“Wait! Matsumoto!” Aiba curses into the steering wheel, before putting the car in park. “Dammit.”

He could only see Matsumoto already sprinting toward the scene, flashing his badge and jumping through the barricades. Aiba pulls the car at the very far front of the rows of cars, knowing that he shouldn’t be in the way of other officials who are probably need to have their car moved at time, before heading to the scene. Thick black smoke is visible from where he stands. 

He presents his badge and asks about the condition to the first police officers he meet. He nods his thank you when they inform him that they haven’t had the full information of the on going fire. Aiba slowly approaches the scene with a hint of fear. He is a fire prevention officer, and there’s a reason that he wants to do it instead of being in the field like Matsumoto. Finally the nightmare is forming vividly in front of his eyes: the small warehouse in front of him is burning to the ground. 

And there’s Matsumoto next to someone he doesn’t recognize, standing as they are observing several of people with body suit, trying to spray the water off the lid. When the man next to Matsumoto shouts, barking orders to the people around him, Aiba shivers a bit. He finds it utterly bitter and sad to have been standing there, in the midst of the chaos, becoming a witness of a property burned to ash, and he no longer could hold his calm. The fire in front of him is exactly what he wants to avoid. This situation is the thing that he wanted to avoid. No one should undergo this helplessness and experience the sadness of losing a property, yet he’s rooted to his spot, watching Matsumoto, with his coat billowing by the wind, standing bravely at the front line. 

Aiba could see it clearly. If it weren’t for his broken hand, he knows Matsumoto is going to be one of the people who are running around holding equipment, working their best to put the fire off, or maybe he is the one who barked order to his officers, coordinating everything so they could work efficiently and focused on salvaging whatever they are able to. 

Aiba could also see what he hasn’t seen from Matsumoto, the sadness is there. He is sad because he doesn’t want to face the fire, but Matsumoto, even more courageous than him, is sad because he has already face the fire and still feels helpless about it. 

Aiba holds even better respect from this point on. And he knows that he couldn’t be there to any longer, not with the his greatest fear flaming in front of him. He turns back to walk back to his car, without looking back to the scene and Matsumoto.

Only when he is already in the car, he allows himself to close his eyes, leaning against his seat and breathes normally. He hasn’t gone to a fire scene for years. Aiba has thought that he’s not able to go to a fire scene anymore, but he could because Matsumoto brings him here, because Matsumoto then is there, even in different front. Somehow, even though the flashes of bad memories consume him, Aiba knows that it’s better now. 

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes. He has thought that maybe he’s going to have a panic attack right there on scene, but he doesn’t. He turns the engine on and drives slowly to the station in almost automated mode. He goes to sit on his desk, simply staring at the blank monitor in front of him when he feels a hand touching his shoulder. He turns to find Nino looking at him with a concerned look on his face. 

“Aiba-chan? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

That’s when he lost it. Aiba just surges forward and Nino is there to hold him. In the middle of hiccups, he finds another hand brushing his back in comforting gesture, knowing it is Kanjiya-chan, and just takes his time to let all things out.

 

“And where the hell is Matsumoto?” is the first thing Ohno asks him when he returns from the bathroom under the pretense of washing his face. Aiba knows that he looks like shit at the moment, his eyes hurt but now he’s okay after a little jag. Nino is back on his desk and Kanjiya-chan is nice enough to go to the _konbini_ around the corner to get them all bento boxes so Aiba doesn’t have to go out to get lunch.

“He’s still at the site, Captain,” Aiba says. His voice is still a bit raw but he knows he will be fine soon. “I took the initiative to go back alone. I’m sure he’ll be here when he’s done there.”

“What is he thinking? Taking you to an active fire site, abandoning his own work schedule and to what account?”

Aiba nods. “I’m sorry.”

“He’s the one who has to apologize. I should probably write him up, so he won’t do that again to you.”

“I don’t think he is to blame. And I kind of understand how he missed the action so that he demanded to go to the active site when we heard the emergency announcement—“

“I definitely am going to write him up for this. Aiba-chan, he is not supposed to be—“

“He’ll be back later, if that’s what you are worried about,” Aiba says. “And I’m fine. I’m fine now. I’m sorry for my outburst earlier. It was just too sudden and I didn’t have time to prepare myself. But I’m fine now.” Saying he’s fine three times in a row doesn't actually convince Ohno, or even himself, but Aiba has to believe in it, or else he will fall apart again.

“Are you sure?” Ohno stares at him intently. “You can take the rest of the day off if you want. I don’t think Kanjiya-chan will mind.”

“No. I’m fine. I am still behind on yesterday’s report. Working will help.”

“If you say so,” Ohno says, still squinting as if he doesn’t actually believe that Aiba is fine but he lets that go. “I’ll be around if you need me. Sleep can wait till later.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Ohno nods to him and then goes to his office to begin making some immediate calls.

 

Matsumoto comes back to the office on the last hour of the office hour, smelling like soot and sweat. The sight of him initially disturbs Aiba in some way but as he looks closer, Aiba could see the sparkling and tired eyes, the relief Matsumoto now allows himself, and most of all the life vibrating in him.

Still, Nino jumps out of his desk immediately to run into Matsumoto, stopping barely inches from him, with his wand waving dangerously, and mouth muttering what seems to be ugly hexes—Aiba hasn’t seen Nino holding out his wand to someone else for so long, the view doesn’t make sense to him. Kanjiya-chan is not too far behind, because she then comes to Matsumoto with a shriek, startling Aiba all the same.

Matsumoto’s reflex and his wand already casting light _Protego_ shell in protection are the only thing that keeps him from Nino’s signature jellyfeet hex along with a growl of “What the fuck were you thinking?” and Kanjiya-chan’s “You jerk!” along with her famous swollen eye hexes.

“What?”

“You know what, you asshole.” Nino nudges the protection shield with the tip of his wand in disgust. 

Kanjiya-chan lashes another hex only to bounce against the shield and break their guest chair. She says, “Put the shield away, you coward. You don’t want me go serious on you and render you unconscious.”

“Sorry? What? What’s wrong?”

“You guys,” Aiba says, stepping forward to get to the center of everything, unarmed and awkward. They are fussing this all because of him and he doesn’t need to have his coworkers injured over such things as him crying on the job. “Let’s take a step back and talk about this. Nino, lower your wand. Kanjiya-chan, no need to threaten him.”

After a long silence, Kanjiya-chan lowers her wand. But her threats stay. “Yeah, take that shield down. We can still take you down. I can throw several punches that make your eyes bleed! No big!” 

Nino takes one glance to Aiba and catches the silence request before casting his eyes to the ceiling, taking two deep breaths and giving up even before he begins. 

After he’s satisfied with his friends, Aiba turns to Matsumoto whose face gives nothing but pure confusion. Their eyes meet and Aiba blinks as Matsumoto slowly notices his puffy eyes and red nose tip. “Hey, what happened to you? Are you okay?”

Nino is about to raise his wand again. Kanjiya-chan is already opening her mouth to start another stream of curses. Aiba takes another step forward to stop anything bad from happening. But it is Ohno clearing his throat from the door of his office that catches everyone’s attention.

“Matsumoto, could you come inside my office now?” he says, his voice firm “Before Kanjiya-chan floors you or Nino causes riot here.”

Aiba wants to take a relieved breath but he doesn’t think that this fiasco is over yet. “Captain, I don’t think—“ 

“Aiba-chan,” Ohno stops him. “I’m calling Matsumoto as his superior. My office, Matsumoto. Now.”

Still with apparent confusion all over his face, Matsumoto complies. He takes long strides to Ohno’s office and closes the door behind him, leaving Aiba with Kanjiya-chan and Nino who are still in their fighting stances. 

Aiba turns to look at his two friends and manages to let out a small smile. “You guys don’t really have to do that but thank you.”

Kanjiya-chan huffs a crooked smile because Matsumoto is not around anymore. “I hope Captain kicks his butt thoroughly, or else I would have to take action.”

“You guys are exaggerating. I’m totally fine now.”

“But you weren’t fine two hours ago. We take care each other, Aiba-chan, in our own way.” Nino sighs before putting away his wand again.  
“And I hope if he makes any of us cry, you are going to pound him to pieces. Right?”

“That’s highly unlikely, either both you crying because of Matsumoto or me pounding him to pieces.” Aiba forces a grin. “Let’s all just take a step back and be calm. I’m fine now. I am thankful to all of you."

“You should be.” At least Kanjiya-chan is showing a small smile now. Nino punches Aiba’s arm lightly, avoiding eye contact, and walks back to his desk. 

Aiba then goes to his desk, concentration shattered as he tries to listen for any sound from Ohno’s office and fails, and continues trying to write his unfinished reports.

Almost an hour passed before Matsumoto finally comes out from Ohno’s office with unmasked misery all over his face. He walks straight to Aiba’s desk, standing by awkwardly for a few minutes, and mutters a low voiced apology while bowing deeply for a full minute. Aiba can only blink and out of reflex, stand up from his chair abruptly, rendered speechless, and reply the bow just as deep.

Matsumoto doesn’t say anything else, and Aiba is too embarrassed to say anything else; they let the matter slide together. There’s nothing else from Nino and Kanjiya-chan and Aiba suspect Ohno has talked to them and told them to let the matter slide too.

The day ends without any thing special, just another day where reports are submitted at the end of the day. None of them talk about what happened in the afternoon again.

 

Except, on Friday, Aiba receives a call from Matsumoto at the end of the day. He ends up staring at his buzzing phone for a full 5 seconds, blinking in confusion, reaching for his remote, and turning off the TV he has left on before answering. “Hello?”

There’s another beat of silence before a soft voice greets him. “Aiba-kun? I hope I catch you in good time.”

It is very straightforward at the end. 

Matsumoto is inviting him to dinner at his house next Friday—saying that he would text Aiba his address later. Matsumoto is not doing this at the office, which means he probably wouldn’t want to invite anyone else beside Aiba—no one is going to hear about the invitation from him anyway, Aiba promises. Matsumoto also sounds very apologetic again, making the conversation awkward and short, but Aiba dismisses the thought and hopes that they will have good time instead.

 

When Aiba arrives at Matsumoto’s door he is greeted with a strange sight. Matsumoto, for the first time since they met, is wearing a short sleeve t-shirt. He could clearly the arm cast, all white covering Matsumoto’s arm, from below the elbow all the way to half of his palm. What crossed his mind during their first meeting returns to Aiba’s mind: That must have hurt a lot. And since he’s at home, Matsumoto had the injured arm in simple sling. 

“Sorry for this,” Matsumoto says, his hand waving Aiba to greet him inside. “I should have—

“I knew it,” Aiba says with a scold in his tone. “You should’ve been using a sling all this time, right?”

“Well, yes,”

Aiba wants to say _but being tough and all is important for you_ but he doesn’t. Instead he reaches out to land a soft touch on the cast and says, “That’s okay. I understand.”

“The thing is, I know you do. That’s why—.” Matsumoto begins before he stops himself, realizing that they are still standing on the dim entryway. It’s only the beginning of the night, and he is already fidgeting in embarrassment. “I’m such a bad host. Why don’t we come in and—“

Aiba grins at him, mostly because he knows that Matsumoto is probably nervous and he is also nervous, and they are not supposed to stay at the entryway any longer. “—Right. Why don’t we? I brought wine by the way.”

Matsumoto smiles back at him, soft and filled with relief he probably wasn’t aware of showing. “That’s great. Come on in. I usually eat at the kitchen. I hope you don’t mind the mess.” 

The food promises to be great if the heavenly scent that fills the kitchen is any indication and Aiba is constantly beaming at the opportunity to see Matsumoto working on the kitchen. Sure his cast hand prevent him from using both of his hands, but he seems at ease at a familiar space, waving his wand in weird angle to get the pan moving to another stove or stirring his sauce with his left hand just as agile.

As Aiba sits on the stall near the small kitchen, blowing the spoon filled with the soup carefully, Matsumoto shifts the bread plate to his side, making room for two plates full of mouthwatering red-sauce spaghetti.

“Oh my. You are so good at this,” Aiba says, eyes closed as he savors the warmth of the dish. “This is amazing.”

Matsumoto smiles at him, satisfied and more like himself again. “Then you should try the pasta. They are even more amazing.” 

Throughout dinner, Matsumoto makes sure that Aiba has everything within reach or refilling their wine or shifting extra Parmesan cheese when Aiba only as much as glance up from the plate.

“Matsumoto,” Aiba finally says, reaching to hold Matsumoto’s hand with a smile. The man is about to get something else he thinks he’s forgotten from the fridge, and Aiba thinks the special treatment needs to stop; Matsumoto is just pushing himself too much to get everything right and then some. While it’s endearing, Aiba is not entirely happy with it. “Could you please stop treating me like you’ve trying to make up something and enjoy the meal together. This is such a wonderful treat.”

Matsumoto stills before he turns to meet Aiba’s eyes. With a hint of sadness, and says, “Maybe I’m trying to make up for something.”

Aiba sighs, food now forgotten. “Now I’m truly curious what Captain had said to you. It wasn’t a big deal.” 

Matsumoto stares at him for a full minute before he nods and returns to his plate. Aiba doesn’t sigh this time; he knows Matsumoto is not going to let this matter go anytime soon, and if that’s how it’s going to be perhaps it’s how it’s going to be.

They polish off the wine with chocolate cookies Matsumoto has prepared. Aiba lightly teases him that he went all the way to buy such a treat while Matsumoto slaps him playfully in return. Still, the heavy mood lingers on the background of the space they share that night—Aiba wanting to set it aside for good while Matsumoto seems to punish himself a little longer.

When it gets quite late, Aiba is warm with after taste of the cookies, slightly dizzy from the good wine, and all in all having a great time with Matsumoto’s company.

At the end of the entryway as Matsumoto walks him to the door, when it’s dim and, somehow, ensconced, Aiba feels a palm touching the small of his back. He comes to a halt, without turning around, and lets Matsumoto stop him.

“Aiba-kun.” Matsumoto speaks in such soft voice. “It _was_ a big deal. It was careless and thoughtless of me to insist to go the site the other day. I truly, truly, apologize.” 

Here comes, Aiba sighs deeply, the inevitable; just when he thinks he doesn’t have to deal with this tonight. Now that Matsumoto brings this up, they have to talk about it, no matter how many times he tries to convince Matsumoto that he is okay, the man needs a more direct answer.

Aiba turns aside, taking a step back, feeling his back touching the cold wall. As he reaches and grabs a hold of Matsumoto’s left arm, he feels the jerk of surprise, but he keeps his hold loose and steady.

“Okay. You get it right the first time. It wasn’t okay.” Aiba takes a deep breath, keeping his eyes straight at Matsumoto. He is going to say everything tonight and then they really should move on from this. “You might be careless and thoughtless, but it’s not for me to say that.” Another deep breath. “And I’m going to stop giving Captain his coffee fix because he wrote you up for something so small.”

“He was concerned about you. As I should have too,” Matsumoto says with determination, ignoring Aiba’s attempt to make light of the conversation completely.

“Matsumoto, if he turned you into this state, he’s gone out of the professional line. I am perfectly capable to do my job. There’s nothing wrong with me. Now. It was just a mishap. Can we at least agree on that?”

Matsumoto still stares at him with mixed emotions—guilt, sorrow, and something else Aiba couldn't tell. In the semi-darkness, Aiba feels like he could say what he really wants to say. Matsumoto cannot see his face clearly, just as much as he could not see Matsumoto’s; their entire focus is on each other, and nothing else.

“Please stop looking at me like that. I said I’m fine. And you’ve gone all the way inviting me to dinner, which you cooked yourself, and I know it’s not easy.” Aiba gives Matsumoto’s arm a squeeze. “And can that make us even or something? This is very uncomfortable. I’m used to you being annoying. I have no problem with it. I really can’t stand this guilt trip.” 

“Aiba-kun,” is the only thing Matsumoto says as an answer. 

A shiver comes up Aiba’s spine, now that he realizes that Matsumoto has taken a small step to close their distance. “Yes.”

“Can I tell you something? A secret.”

Aiba wants to nod but he figures Matsumoto wouldn’t able to catch any small movement in the darkness so he says, “Yes.”

Matsumoto is silent for a while before softly whispering. “I’m scared of fire, too. Top level scared shitless. And that’s why I’m what I am today.” 

Aiba feels pleasant butterflies flit in his stomach, his hand now absently rubbing Matsumoto’s arm gently. “You are very brave.”

Matsumoto shifts on his feet, his eyes downcast and voice still soft. “And you are equally brave, for joining the squad. You are one of us, you know.”

Something about the way Matsumoto said the words, something about their closeness, something about how all those words are hitting very close to home, Aiba lets out a chuckle and as his hand clutches Matsumoto’s palm, he lets his body weight loose and slides down to the floor.

“Can we just—?“

Matsumoto nods and is halfway chanting, “ _Lumo_ \--” before Aiba tugs his arm. “Don't. Let it be dark for a moment. Let it be just us without anything else.”

“Okay.” 

Matsumoto sinks to the floor too, folding himself in front of Aiba. Now they are sitting so close, knees touching, and Aiba’s hand is still holding Matsumoto’s.

They sit in silence for a while, as Matsumoto lets Aiba calm himself. They were in so much pain; they will still be in so much pain. And Aiba wants, for once, to have the courage to be brave and strong like Matsumoto, to ignore other people’s opinion simply because his is more important, or to be not mindful with everything because he needs to be mindful of himself first. And Aiba also wants, for not once if it’s possible, to share the pain with Matsumoto so the man doesn’t hate the world that much, can punch some inanimate object when he needs to find some outlet, or can smile when he doesn't feel like smile because maybe something good will happen.

But—Aiba shifts his knees slightly, bumping lightly to Matsumoto’s hanging arm before resting their loosely joined hand on top of his knee—if he is to be Matsumoto and Matsumoto is to do things as Aiba does, they wouldn’t be the same person as they are now. They won’t be sitting here in the dim entryway, awkwardly facing each other, filling the silence with even breath, letting anticipation hanging quietly and, Aiba just finally realizes, sharing their pain.

“Matsumoto, can I now tell you a secret?”

Aiba’s voice startles him a bit but Matsumoto doesn't immediately answer. He slowly takes their joined hand, lifting them before setting Aiba’s palm on his cheek. 

Holding his breath, Aiba waits for a nod, and when it comes, smile blooms on his face. Matsumoto let's out a gasp when Aiba leans forward trying to capture the lips that has been so often curled in annoyance while his other hand snaking around Matsumoto’s hip. 

Aiba wants to say something, spilling the secret he has been guarding so close, right here and right now before he lost in shared pain, warmth and comfortable darkness, but it was Matsumoto who closes the distance with them, his cast arm folded snuggly between their chest, and left hand hitting the wall softly. 

Chuckling giddily, Aiba jumps the last hurdle, breathes “I’ve been wanting to do this since your first day,” and wets his lips. At that single moment, he could see the glint of Matsumoto’s intense stare, the arch of his thick eyebrows, and the slow flutter of his eyes closing, with complete trust, and his mouth slightly opening.

When their lips finally meet, in light and wet touches, Matsumoto sighs and Aiba deepens his kiss, taking as much as he’s been given, sharing the sensation. And when Matsumoto’s hand shifts to get a hold of the back of his head, tugging his hair softly, Aiba pulls back slowly to drop few more on Matsumoto’s flushed cheeks, moving up to his cheekbone. The hand begin his head loosens and shifts to hold on the side of Aiba’s neck, giving a firm and warm press before a thumb begins rubbing pleasant circles on the back of his ears. 

Aiba returns his full attention to Matsumoto lips, keeping their kisses short and lingering longer. Matsumoto seems to agree with their pace, shifting closer but not turning anything faster. Under the dim lit entryway, within each other’s embrace, they enjoy each other, tasting bitterness of each of their lives, taking each other burden even for mere seconds, and holding on inside their new shared comforting closeness.

 

 

They agree on not rushing into anything. They don't think that it would do either of them good if they are moving to fast this time. They keep everything close for now.

Another Wednesday comes and by the afternoon, Matsumoto is busy with his report while Aiba has just finished consulting his report to Kanjiya-chan when he catches an old lady lurking nervously by the door. 

He walks toward her and greets her with a smile. “Can I help you, Ma’am?” 

She looks up to Aiba with a hint of worry and shyness. “I’m looking for Matsumoto Jun-san. I was told that he’s here today. Is it possible for me to meet him?”

Aiba nods and gives her a reassuring smile. “Of course.” 

“I don’t want to bother him if he’s busy with something,” she says softly, shifting her large bags with difficulty.

“We just got in from our field work. I’m quite sure he has time to meet you now,” Aiba says. “Why don’t you come with me, Ma'am? We can find him inside. And let me take those for you.”

Aiba makes sure the woman hands him all her large bags, ensuring her that it’s completely okay to have him helping her. She finally takes Aiba’s offer, bowing her thanks before nodding for Aiba to show her the way. They go in through the door and go straight to Matsumoto’s desk. 

When the woman stops to wait at the far end of the table, Aiba walks to his desk to get Matsumoto’s attention. “You have guest.”

On the desk, Matsumoto looks up with a question on his eyes. “Yes?”

“She’s here to meet you,” Aiba says, stepping aside and points at the old woman. “I am sorry. I forgot to ask your name, Ma’am.”

Matsumoto stands up abruptly, sending his chair to roll around and hitting the copy machine, and walks toward her in a hurry. “Hamada-san, what are you doing here?”

“Matsumoto-san, I’m very glad to meet you again,” she says as she bows very low. 

In reflex Matsumoto bows back, and they are staying that way for a while, with Aiba in the middle, holding the bags in confusion. Kanjiya-chan and Nino already pause their work to observe the situation. Even Ohno comes out from his office to see what’s going on outside.

The first thing Hamada-san said when she lifts his head is to apologize again, saying, “I went to your station and they say that you are here on Wednesday.”

Matsumoto reaches out to touch her hand, finding it cold. “Hamada-san, you didn’t walk all the way here from the station, did you?” 

“I kind of did,” she says with a bashful smile.

Matsumoto sighs heavily. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If I have known, I would be gladly be the one to go back to the station and greet you there.”

“But you are busy with your work at this time of day, right? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“You are definitely not.” 

“And I don’t know if this is too much, because I thought you are working in a large office. I think I baked too much milk buns.

Ohno have joined Aiba so they both getting the best view Matsumoto and Hamada-chan’s exchanges. Kanjiya-chan and Nino disappear to the pantry.

“Hamada-san, there’s no such thing as too many milk buns,” Matsumoto assures her.

“And I also bring these—.“ She produces few transparent boxes filled with sweets and what seem to be crackers. 

“And you dragged these all the way here?” Matsumoto frowns before squinting his eyes at her. “Hamada-san!”

She smiles again, giving Matsumoto a bashful cute smile. He is about to say something else but Ohno steps forward and greets the woman. 

“Let me help you with that,” Ohno says gently. “Can we also offer you some hot tea? We don’t have much here but I think you would like to rest after a long hike from Central.”

Kanjiya-chan materializes carrying a tray with two cups of hot tea. “I took the liberty to make you both one.”

Aiba also comes forward, “Why don’t you settle in the guest quarter so you both can talk more comfortably?” 

The swift and efficient movements from his colleagues send Matsumoto speechless. Slowly they walk to toward the guest quarter and finds Nino has just finished turning on the heater already. 

“It is on already. I suppose you all be comfortable here for a while. It’s freezing outside. You don’t want to catch a cold, do you, Hamada-san.”

She smiles again, this time with tears start forming on the corner of her eyes. While Matsumoto looks frightened, Aiba comes forward again to take her hands. “Come on, let’s get you settled and rest those feet.”

Matsumoto turns to see Aiba in desperation and receives assuring pats on his shoulder. “Here, you can sit here,” Aiba says, before lowering his voice to whisper, “It’ll be fine.”

Aiba leaves the room, carefully closing the door. He is about to stay close to the door, curiosity quickly beating courtesy, when he sees Kanjiya-chan waves at him from behind Nino’s desk, signaling him to come over.

“What—“ Aiba sighs with a smile when he finds Ohno and Nino hunker together, sharing earphones. He should have known that Nino is planning something with the heater excuse. But Kanjiya-chan shows him another pair of earphones, offering. “He’s not going to be happy with this, I assume, but since Nino has gone all the trouble—.”

Grinning, Kanjiya-chan pulls him down to sit by the floor, huddled together around the receiver. 

At the end, Aiba does feel like he’s been guilty of eavesdropping—same with Ohno who grins sheepishly at them all. 

Hamada-san is coming to the station because he wants to meet Matsumoto and thank him, for the fifth time Matsumoto said.

When Matsumoto leads her back to the office area, he catches the last fuss of Kanjiya-chan’s knocking her head on Nino’s table, Ohno’s guilty expression and Aiba’s failed wink. With Nino not to be seen, Matsumoto glares at them all, silently saying that they will deal with that later, and turns back to Hamada-san. “You said you have something to say to them?”

She turns to face them—Nino slowly surfacing with a manic smile from under the table, Ohno awkwardly trying to keep his posture straight, Kanjiya-chan still rubbing her head, and Aiba who has his full attention to her now—and bows her thank you once again. 

“No. No.” Ohno leads everyone, making sure they are all bowing in response. “We are not doing anything. It was Matsumoto.” 

She turns to look up straight to Matsumoto’s eyes, touching the cast on his right hand. “Especially you. You have to suffer so much pain because of me.” 

Matsumoto only nods. “You don't need to apologize. I was only doing my job.”

“But it was because of me your arm is broken, un-repairable by magic they said. And now you are moving to another station. I heard from someone in the station, since you cannot work in the field now you have to ride desk—whatever that means—and do paperwork,” she says with concern clouding her word. “They were laughing at you at Central. But now that I see how you are well taken care of here, I am glad.” 

She tugs his arm softly and leans forward to whisper the next sentence to Matsumoto, but the whole room can hear it anyway. “I think these people are better than your station mates. They were so serious.”

Matsumoto laughs at that. “I also think they are.” 

“So you get well soon. I hope these milk buns could make your day a little brighter, it’s not much but I can guarantee that they are good. Please help yourself.”

The moment she opens the lid of a container, Ohno steps forward without command. She welcomes Captain with a smile and offers him a piece. Ignoring Matsumoto who is still rooted in his place, Nino and Kanjiya-chan rush forward to get their portion.

“It is, Hamada-san. It is good.” Ohno grins as he takes bites after bites greedily. “You are the best!”

“Captain, no talking with your mouth full. That’s disgusting,” Kanjiya-chan scolds him. She takes a big bite and nearly moans. “Oh yes. This is so good, Hamada-san. Oh my god.”

As Aiba and Nino fights for their next buns, Hamada-san leans toward Matsumoto and says. “I kinda love your colleagues.” 

Matsumoto smiles, unguarded and genuinely happy. “I don’t really love them but they’re alright.”

“I, unlike that jerk, love you too, Hamada-san!” Nino pipes from his chair as he stuffs his mouth with another mouthful of buns.

She grins and sends a shy wink to Nino before turns back to face Matsumoto. Reaching for Matsumoto’s right arm, she takes it and cradles it on her palm. “You get well soon, Matsumoto-san.” 

“Thank you, Hamada-san,” Matsumoto nods, taking a quick glance toward Aiba who with his mouth full is signaling thumbs up. “I think I will.”

 

They gather around the entrance to send Hamada-san off. 

“Can I offer you to drive you to the station?” Aiba offers her, knowing that she might be tired from the walk and they have a car. 

She shakes her hand softly. “I think I’m going to walk, it’s such a wonderful afternoon.”

“Let me walk you up there,” Matsumoto says.

She waves her hand shyly. “No, I can’t intrude your work any longer, Matsumoto-san”

“You’re not.” It is Aiba who answers before Matsumoto can talk. “Please take his offer. We’ll be fine without him for a while. And it’ll ease our mind knowing that at least you have Matsumoto walking you to the train station.”

“You all are too kind,” she says softly. 

Ohno steps forward once again. “You too. Take care, Hamada-chan.”

Matsumoto says, “Shall we go then?” 

“If you insists then,” she’s still trying to refuse but Aiba can see that he made a good decision with his offer.

“Just return Matsumoto-san around afternoon, will you, Hamada-san,” Kanjiya-chan says lightly. “I need him to file today’s report.”

“I’ll return him later,” she replies, with a shy blush riding her cheeks, but twinkling with humor eyes, her left hand clutches cutely on Matsumoto’s sleeves, giving it a slow tug.

Nino is cheering a woot behind them and waves rather enthusiastically; they were good buns after all.

Matsumoto’s face is already red from embarrassment and too much smiling, but he waves back at them all before turning on the corner. He mouths a silent “thank you” but it is loud as day everyone catches it just fine. “I’ll be right back as soon as Hamada-san let me loose.”

They all go back in and gather near Nino’s table where buns containers and teacups are half empty

“Wow. These are interesting buns,” Ohno says, sitting on Nino’s chair and taking another one.

Nino makes a loud snort at his corner before adding, “And interesting side story.” He takes a piece of bun, taking small nibble on it. “I begin to like him.”

“I like him more,” Ohno says, clasping his hands in agreement with his mouth full of bun. 

“I liked him first,” Aiba says with emphasis, turning his gaze to meet everyone’s just to be sure. 

“All yours, Aiba-kun,” Kanjiya-chan says, eyes rolling before twirling dramatically and walking back to her desk. 

Matsumoto would want to put the remaining of buns a zipper bag with the label “MJ’s” in the office fridge. But Aiba knows that Nino likes milk buns, Captain is not to be trusted with food, and Kanjiya-chan will pretend that she doesn’t know anything about anything milk buns related. Perhaps Aiba can help out a bit by setting aside the buns from now on. Perhaps he’ll pretend to deliver the buns and stay over Matsumoto’s place this time. Perhaps leaning toward a definite yes, he concludes with a smile, content and warm, before picking up another milk bun.

 

Few Wednesdays later, Aiba arrives at the office to find Kanjiya-chan and Nino crowding over what-used-to-be-Matsumoto’s but-will-soon-back-to-be-Sho’s desk. 

“What are you two doing?”

“Morning,” Nino greets him distractedly. “We're just making sure if Matsumoto has left anything. You know, some cute doodles or the rough scribble of _MJ was here_ or some sort.”

“I think he cleaned the table pretty much. He even scrubbed the poor thing yesterday,” Aiba says, as he drops his coat on his chair and giving the two an amused look. “Ah, I see. Is this a part of Sho-kun welcome back party?”

“It might be,” Kanjiya-chan says. “But I'd like to see what souvenirs he brought us before deciding on the necessity of holding a party for him.”

Aiba chuckles. “You both know best. I'll prepare some coffee and then you can brief me, Kanjiya-chan.”

Aiba leaves the two to their business and nearly bumps into Ohno coming out of his office. “Morning. I just got here. Do you want a hit before you go home, Captain?”

“Aiba-chan,” Ohno says dazedly. His eyes are red and Aiba assumes that he's sleep walking. “I'm going to go straight home now. Thanks for the offer.”

“You'll be back in time for the party, right?”

“5pm, right? I'll be there. Just have to sleep first. Have a good day.”

Aiba waves him goodbye, grabbing the usual mugs, and pours two cups coffee before returning to his desk. At the sight of Sho standing with his arms crossed around his chest holding heated gaze with both Kanjiya-chan and Nino, Aiba lets out a small laugh. “Sho-kun” he greets the man. “You’re back!”

Sho waves at him distractedly. “See? Aiba-chan just had his coffee, meaning he just got here. Why are you both giving me side eye on this? Aren’t you are supposed to welcome me with open arms or something?”

“Something,” Nino answers him with a flat tone. “I don’t see you hefting large boxes or something that could be, I don’t know, souvenirs for all of us. That’s very suspicious in a way.”

Kanjiya-chan throws Sho her glare. “You were right, Ninomiya-kun. London must have made him forgetting us. Lost cause indeed.”

“What? What are you guys saying?”

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Kanjiya-chan turns to return to her table. “I’ll prepare your brief in a moment, Aiba-kun. I’ll leave you to deal with updating your old partner to our current agenda.”

“You and I. Lunch.” Nino says while staring menacingly at Sho. Only after he is satisfied with Sho’s confused look, he also makes a dramatic turn to return to his desk.

“And I thought I miss this office,” Sho mutters as he rolls his eyes with a large smile on his face. “Hi, Aiba-chan. I’m back.”

“And here’s your coffee.” Aiba puts the mug on Sho’s desk. “Welcome back.”

 

When Aiba briefs Sho that they are going to go to another elementary school, he visibly sighs. “I thought you already dealt with that last week? Not that I’ve been counting and trying to get away with the fourth Wednesday in a month.”

“Actually,” Aiba says, “We already dealt with one school visit last week as scheduled but Kanjiya-chan added another school for us this week rather last minute.”

Sho rolls his eyes. “Why can’t she just say that she misses me and is happy to have me back on the team instead of giving such tough assignment on my first day back?”

Aiba laughs when he catches Sho sliding further down to pout in his passenger seat. He keeps his focus on the road as Aiba drives them to the school. 

They come back to the station at the end of day, tired but laughing over their own jokes about being kicked in the shin repeatedly by children the whole afternoon. They find Nino in front of the office Floo screen, head leaning to the side as he seriously listening to the report. 

When Aiba steps to his side, he sees Nino is intently watching a live fire magick report on it—a reporter is currently holding her wand on the side of the screen, giving rapid explanation of the fire scene behind her. 

Nino is solely focused on the screen. “Kanjiya-chan, come on, they are going to try closing into the squad and we might finally get something.”

Sho sets aside his coat and join Nino curiously. He asks, “What are you watching?”

Kanjiya-chan taps Aiba’s shoulder and asks softly. “Is this okay? If not, we can turn it off. I’m sure Nino will understand—“

Aiba is thankful for the consideration. He has thought that the fire scene even if it were only a broadcast, would affect him just like last time Matsumoto dragged him into a scene. But he remember his talk with Matsumoto that night. It will be okay, eventually, and now that this is just screen and his friends are around him. He replies softly, "I'm fine, Kanjiya-chan. I have all of you here with me. Thank you."

"Good," Kanjiya-chan says.

Nino startles them all with his laugh. “Wow, that’s just too cool. Standing there, emoting with such a good pose. I like him more and more.”

“So this is about Matsumoto?” Sho asks, and gets a confirmation as he looks around to see smirk in Nino’s face, fondness in Kanjiya-chan’s, and smile in Aiba’s. “Now that I think about it, it makes sense. I only met him once after I got back but he talked highly of you guys, you know. Especially you Aiba-kun.”

Aiba blushes a bit. “Well, he’s a nice guy.”

“Really?” Sho turns at him in slight disbelief. “He’s not actually. He’s a true serious person in Central and all he does daily is ordering people strictly. I guess working here sends him into a good mood.”

It sends Kanjiya-chan and Nino into loud cackles. "No kidding! You called that good mood?”

Sho is at lost. “Did I miss something?”

“You miss a lot, Sho-kun,” Kanjiya-chan says. “You miss the beautiful sight of Aiba-kun falling in love.” 

“What?” 

Nino steps closer to elbow Sho playfully. “Yeah. Aiba-chan is out of the game now, Sho-chan. So you better stick to those who probably will love you back.”

At Sho’s confused look, Aiba says, “Nino really _really_ misses those dinner dates with you, Sho-kun.”

At the end when Ohno didn’t show up even after 6, Kanjiya-chan cancelled their party. He’s probably overslept, Kanjiya says, and they could easily reschedule and in the mean time giving ample time for Sho to unpack and bring his souvenirs to the office. It’s only fair, she insists. 

 

Sho drops by after his afternoon shift at Central on Friday afternoon with two large bags filled with his souvenirs. Kanjiya-chan takes a good look of the content of one of the bags and gives him a thumb up. Aiba wrestles with Nino for the prize of what seems to be a pair of Union Jack silly slippers. 

Sho is walking out of the pantry with a cup of coffee when Ohno and Matsumoto come through the door. 

“Guys, look who’s here!” Ohno says with apparent excitement. 

“I think everyone could see just fine,” Matsumoto says with a small smile before greeting the others. “Hi guys.”

Matsumoto is still wearing his uniform but the constricting cast is gone. Aiba knows that his right hand is still healing but he’s back at Central full time now. It just happens that Kanjiya-chan has invited him to go for his belated farewell party and Sho’s welcome back party. 

“Hey, I don’t know you’re going to stop by here,” Sho says with a smile at the pleasant surprise. “We could’ve headed here together.”

“I wasn’t planning to, if a certain Kanjiya-chan hasn’t been creepily insistent in bombarding my inbox,” Matsumoto says. “She was very persistent. Plus Aiba-kun asked nicely.”

“Great, now that we all here, let’s go!” Kanjiya-chan beams. “I made reservation already.”

“Let me put some pending alerts on queue before we go. I’d need them later for my shift,” Ohno says, turning to walk to his office. “It’d only take a while.”

“And here I am with my fresh cup of coffee,” Sho says, taking a seat on Nino’s desk. “You should have told me before I went for one, Kanjiya-chan”

Kanjiya-chan waves Sho’s protest aside. “I didn’t know Matsumoto is going to come here in time with Captain. We can wait though.”

“And I have something for you, Nino,” Matsumoto says. He takes off his coat, leaving it on Aiba’s chair and rummaging his deep coat pocket for a medium size Tupperware filled with milk buns. “Hamada-san sent this to the office. I managed to save some for you even if the rest was gone within seconds.” 

“Oh! Oh! You are so good to me,” Nino coos with delight as he dramatically tosses Sho’s souvenir bag into Aiba’s desk. “Now this is some really good stuff.”

Sho rolls his eyes. “Those milk buns were really good, indeed.”

“You had your chance to set some aside for me yet you did nothing?” Nino huffs. “I’m hurt, Sho-chan.”

Sho smiles coyly. “Hey, I don’t know that you like milk buns that much. Plus they were really good. I couldn't help myself.”

Matsumoto steps closer to Aiba who is watching the whole exchange in amusement. He reaches out to hold Aiba’s elbow lightly and smiles warmly him. “Hey you.”

“Hey,” Aiba replies with a grin, his hand reaching to hold Matsumoto’s upper arm lightly. “Glad you can make it.”

“I’m still on call though. Let’s hope there’s no emergency call until midnight.”

“Are you sure? If you’re not okay with this, we can cut this early, leave them to their own merry, and just go home,” Aiba says. “You probably need to rest after a long day.”

“It’s okay.” Matsumoto turns to see Ohno’s stepping out from his office and is caught in the middle of Sho and Nino’s banter while Kanjiya-chan is busy packing her bag. He turns back to Aiba, giving his elbow a gentle squeeze, and smiles. “I think it’s going to be fun.”

 

“I don’t understand why we don't just go to a karaoke box and starts from there?” Aiba, reaching for another _edamame_ bowl after passing the first to Matsumoto. “Do we really need reservation at a standing bar anyway?”

“Alcohol in Karaoke box is too expensive. And I don’t think any of us is going to sing love songs at the first hour anyway,” Kanjiya-chan says as she slides another glass to Sho. “Eat to your heart content, people, while everything is still within our budget.”

“Sho-kun, you want anything else?”

When Sho shakes his head with his mouth full, giving thumb up, Ohno signals only one refill for him. “Still, we can go to a karaoke box after this, right?” 

“Right. I still refuse to do a duet or any sort of combinations with any of you,” Nino says. 

Matsumoto frowns in confusion as he sips his beer. “Why?”

Nino replies with a sweet smile. “Because whatever it is you’re going to sing, I definitely will not sing it with or for you.”

“Don’t mind him, Matsumoto,” Sho says, “he sings the best ballad out of all of us. Might as well give him the stage for himself.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” Kanjiya-chan pipes in. “Didn’t make it less true though.”

“Best when he’s drunk,” Aiba adds. His mouth is half full with pickles and still he can give a sly smile. 

Ohno burps shamelessly. “Sho-kun is also a good singer.”

“You’re not the one to say. You’re not bad yourself,” Sho says, slapping Ohno’s hand, causing his beer glass to shake in his grip.

“And that’s an understatement,” Kanjiya-chan says, already passing Ohno some tissue. “Captain is the best of course.”

“Not really,” Ohno grumbles with a smile as everyone laughs at how 

The night ends nicely, albeit a bit crowded for Aiba. He would rather have Matsumoto for himself. But spending half the night at karaoke box, laughing and clapping in delight at each other, as their song choice gradually turns more and more ridiculous is something that Aiba delights in. He leans slightly onto Matsumoto’s shoulder. The man stays close to Aiba all through the night, as if he’s still trying to fit in to the rowdy bunch, but Aiba knows that even with the continuous rolled eyes and small smiles, Matsumoto is having a good time. 

Next time, Kanjiya-chan will find another silly reason to hold a get together slash office party. Of course, Nino will show reluctance at first but he’d be the first one who jumps into the stage and sings heartbreaking ballad at the karaoke. Ohno will be there as long as there is food and alcohol. Sho will be there as long as there is food, alcohol, and Nino. Aiba will be there as long as any of them is there, and he will definitely bring Matsumoto along with him.


End file.
